Hide & Seek - Nicole Edwards Page 0,69
reason.”
“Okay, fine,” he answered. “We’ll be rays of sunshine and think positively. Let’s find the others.”
Of course, Reese knew his optimism would be short-lived. The other three boxes netted the same thing: nothing.
“I want the crime scene techs,” Brantley grumbled as he marched out of the storage locker, past Officer Landry, through the station, and right to Detective Collins’s desk.
The substation was still busy, but as expected at nine o’clock at night, most of these detectives were gone.
While Reese stood back, Brantley rummaged through what was on the detective’s desk, looking for the files on the missing women. When that didn’t get him what he wanted, he checked the three-drawer lateral file cabinet behind it and still came up with nothing.
“Maybe he—”
Brantley held up a hand, effectively cutting Reese off.
“Don’t. No more excuses.”
Reese offered a tight smile, then followed Brantley out of the building.
By the time they got back to the hotel, Brantley was steaming mad. Reese took over from there, contacting JJ, Baz, and Trey to let them know what they’d encountered tonight.
“Why?” Trey asked. “Why would he pretend to be an officer instead of the detective on the case?”
“That’s the million-dollar question,” Reese told him, ignoring the man prowling behind him.
“Okay, so we know that the families of the victims called in to report the women missing,” JJ said, her tone cool, calm. “We also know that crime scene techs were called out to the lake in all cases.”
“We know that for a fact?” Brantley asked, stopping behind Reese.
“Yes,” she said quickly, smoothly. “I was able to get into the electronic files. There are notes reflecting that.”
“What about official reports from the techs?”
“Umm … I haven’t seen any, no.”
So they were going on the word of the detective again.
“Who called them?” Reese asked, watching JJ’s expressive face on the screen.
“That’s the kicker. It doesn’t say who, but I’m not sure it will.” She glanced over her shoulder at Baz. “Should it?”
“Depends. Some detectives are good at documenting things. I always noted everything because my memory’s for shit. Figured it was best if I kept it all laid out clearly for my reference if no one else’s.”
“Well, we know this detective is not good at much of anything except bein’ deceptive,” Brantley grumbled.
JJ met Reese’s eyes through the camera and gave a sympathetic smile.
“What else do we know?” Brantley’s voice reflected his irritation.
“I would bet my last dollar that Detective Collins was the same officer who went out on the first call and informed the families that someone would be in touch.”
“Okay, Trey,” Brantley said, “since you’re a bettin’ man, would you also say he’s the one who has the missing cell phones?”
JJ shifted the monitor so that the camera was directed at Trey.
“Yes.”
“Playing devil’s advocate here,” Baz said from somewhere, “we know the governor called us in on this case. The mayor’s worried, which means someone has decided these cases are related. It’s possible someone else is lookin’ into it, which would explain where the case files and the evidence are.”
Risking Brantley’s wrath, Reese said, “I agree. That’s a good possibility.”
A grunt was all they got from Brantley.
“Let’s throw out another theory,” Trey said. “We’ve got four women who are missing, all taken during their jog at the lake. At each one, they found a cell phone and headphones stacked neatly for someone to find. The crime scene techs did their job, logged it into evidence, then Collins comes along, takes over the cases, claiming they’re too different to think they’re related. He then hijacks the case files, starts making his own notes because, hey, he’s the bad guy so he knows what’s goin’ on. And now that there’s heat on him because the mayor got a bug up his ass and called the governor, he’s covering his tracks by takin’ all the information so it can’t be tied back to him.”
Brantley had stopped walking, his hand firmly on Reese’s shoulder as they watched Trey on the computer screen.
“That’s the theory I’m leanin’ toward,” Brantley said. “My gut’s tellin’ me Detective Collins is at the heart of this.”
Reese interrupted their trial by assumption and spoke directly to JJ. “What else did you find out on the brother?”
“That’s what Baz is goin’ over now,” she said, nodding her head backward. “He’s been readin’ through it for an hour. From my initial glance, I couldn’t find much of anything. I figure it’s one of two things.”
“What’s that?” Brantley asked.
“Either the brother doesn’t exist or someone’s done a damn fine job